What’s With All The Broke Christians?
Christians should be the wealthiest individuals on the planet.
If we’re attached to the Author and Creator of all things, why aren’t we receiving incredible business ideas, inventions, and corporations? Why shouldn’t we create companies that can be used to employ more people, create more jobs and meet the tangible needs of those in the communities around us, which in turn can further the Kingdom? Isn’t the most tangible way to impact the immediate community to create our own economic stimulus without relying on the government to furnish the funds?
Give people a job that allows them to tithe. The church receives the tithes they need, and they’re then able to spend more money doing outreach and evangelism, and in turn, not only does the church grow, providing more money, but more souls are won to the Kingdom. Which in turn produces more tithers, and the cycle continues itself.
Seems easy doesn’t it? IT IS! Yet, as Christians, we have adopted the misguided notion that it’s money that is the root of all evil, instead of realizing that it’s the love of that money that corrupts the hearts of men. We have to learn to control our money and make it work for us instead of working for the money and letting it control us.
Jesus should be our only Lord, but instead, we have fallen into the trap of letting the need to pay our next credit card bill lord over us! We can’t be faithful with tithing 10 percent to God and we wonder why we’re perpetually struggling to make ends meet! Perhaps we should be grateful that He lets us keep 90 instead of asking for more!
Tithing is not a financial issue. Not at all. It’s a trust issue. Tithing says, “God I trust you to do what you said you would do and here’s a token of that faith.” He asks for our money because he knows that is the most valuable thing we could give. He wants to see if our actions back up our speech. If you tell me, “I can’t afford to tithe, I don’t make enough money.” What I hear is, “I don’t trust God to be faithful to His Word and provide what I need out of the 90% of my income that He lets me keep.”
I know many skeptics would say, “But the pulpit is full of crooks! I can’t trust the church with my money when their Pastor is driving a Bentley!”
That is not for you to determine! You are commanded to bring the tithe into the place, the church body, where you worship and call home. If you’re not satisfied with the way the money is being handled, I suggest you keep it moving. What’s more important is that your job is to be faithful to GOD and tithe. Let the church handle it’s business because at the end of the day, the church, and that Pastor will be held responsible, either by the government, but more importantly, by God, as to how they allocated the funds given to them by their members.
So, we don’t like it when our Pastors have nice things and we gawk when they own beautiful cars, luxury homes, and dress with designer labels, but what do you want? Do you want the Pastor to be the poorest person in the church, the lowly, humble servant of the Lord?
Most Pastors I know, have additional sources of income that pay for their houses, cars and suits. They make money from books, tapes, CDs, and additional speaking engagements. Now, there’s obviously a balance needed here, but that doesn’t change the fact that, we, as Christians, can tend to be incredibly double minded when it comes to matters of the pocket.
Especially the pocket that holds the cash.
{For more from Stuart McDonald, check out his personal blog and follow him on Twitter}
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Comments
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this is the fukin reason i go to a fukin church. i am NOT commanded to do a goddamn thing by nobody! the writer of the article has no brain whatsoever because 1st of all, who said “god expects 10%” of anybody’s earnins? because that is a highly biased statement due to the fact that the pastor is usually the richest person in the church so his 10% is more like 1%(or less!) of what his/her congregation may have. and 2nd, we dont “get to keep the other 90%” of jack shyit because the government takes another 15-20% out for taxes so its like offerin twice! and thats not countin expenses people have. you makin it sound like we’re in a world where 90% of our income can just go to whatever we want it to, which is 100% false! you damn right people are mad at the pastors. tithin doesnt benefit the congregation, it only benefits the pastor. pastors are selfish, lyin, cheatin, adulterous, thievin bastards. they will “help” the community before helpin poor members of the church. its my money, so yes, i will determine (to the highest possible degree that i can) how its used. there is no guarantee that a person will be blessed soley because they gave money to a church, nor any control or idea on what that blessin would be or even if and how long that blessin would last if said person were fortunate enough to receive it. and its not even guaranteed it would come directedly from the lord, versus from a person, who may have their own intentions about that blessin or blessins because it wasnt for them but for someone else, and lets say they want it for themselves and try to use it instead of lettin another person have it. never thought of that huh? so see, a blessin can be a curse in disguise and sometimes even vice versa. there just too many complexities about blessins to really have any trust in it, much less that god will give it. think about the numerous times youve done favors for people or was generous to the less fortunate and it (big gasp!) WASN’T rewarded. thats enough to make a person want to turn their back on their faith because its like gettin a kick in the ass for offerin a handshake. and thats why tithes/offerins is bulls**t.
lol
The bible says the wealth of the wicked is set up for the righteous. God does not bless mess. Until we as Christians line up with the word of God for real, we will continue to struggle. Does this mean that if we are going through something God will not help us? No! This simply means if you line up with Christ you can begin to live struggle free. God will always to take you through things to get you to call on him, everything we go through is not always the devil, it is sometimes God trying to see just how strong you are and how much faith you really have. So we are not just broke because as many people say (our pastor is taking all of our money, no it’s because is waiting for us to line up and cause he is always handing out blessings.
its just a big tug-o-war quote,
“So, we don’t like it when our Pastors have nice things and we gawk when they own beautiful cars, luxury homes, and dress with designer labels”
Its just like the Article Explained Right above..two entities going against each other right there.
To imply that God, and believing in God is the only reason people get money, you’d have to ignore every other factor that affects economics… the purpose of the advancement of technology is to reduce the number of people needed to do a job. That means the more advanced machines become, the less human workers there are needed to do that specific job… which means job loss. Then you have exploitation, class conflict, etc… it’s called capitalism.
To say that people should pay tithes to the church, regardless of how it’s used is ridiculous. Why would I give my money to someone KNOWING they’re not using it right? Or suspecting that they’re not using it right? Why would God want someone to keep giving their money to someone who is using it the wrong way just because it’s a church?
Also, this article said nothing about what people could physically do that would actually generate money. You don’t exchange tithes for money… you exchange tithes for a hope of getting it back (someday). Why not give tips on how people can actually make more money?
I_Am_TheProtector you have no idea of what truth is. Your view of Christianity is based on misinformation and ignorance of history. The evidence for the existence of Yeshua of Nazareth that is Jesus is beyond refutation. So your effort to be “academically correct in what I understand and know to be true” is either disingenuous or misguided. Your straw man arguments against “Christianity” are unsound and based on speculation rather than fact. I can offer proof of my position in another forum should you desire further dialogue or discussions of these issues.
The emperor has no clothes on. “Christians should be the wealthiest individuals on the planet.”
This is your idea of theology? You confess that I am rich, I have all thing, I shall not want, I lack nothing, I can do all things through Christ including become wealthy by tithing and giving alms. You can confess every verse in the Bible on health, wealthy and financial prosperity but God says of you that that you are ignorant of the fact that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked (Revelations 3:17) Here is some advise buy gold tried in the fire from God and a white outfit so you can get dressed and so that the shame of your nakedness will be covered. Also buy so Divine ointment so that your blind eyes can open. Repent of preaching the corrupt theology that militates against the Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You tithe cash but God says you should tithe mercy and justice. Defend the poor, care for the widows and orphans. Give to the poor so that you can have the true riches. You should be giving to the broke Christians so you can get a real blessing. Was Bernard Madoff blessed or cursed with a curse? He was a wealth thief like some preachers. God calls them greedy dogs. Pastors who will no spare the flock but lord over them. God promised His people “Pastors” after His heart, True men of God care for the fatherless and show mercy to the poor. They feed the Flock of God with humility and receive the gifts God’s people not for their personal wealth. They can open secular businesses or get secular jobs like the Apostle Paul who was a tent maker. These oxen have grown too fat to plow so rather then freely give they hoard God’s money. They are heaping up treasures for the last day. They should be weeping and howling for their coming miseries. James 5:1-6 You folks are have locked your bowels of compassion for your brothers in need. Go find a young father struggling to make ends meet and teach him how to sell like you do, so he can feed his family. Don’t stand on your bully pulpit and condemn him for being broke. Help some young brothers live a clean life by teaching them to do what you are doing (only change from the heretical theology you now espouse to a sound orthodox biblical theology prior to helping them). By the way poverty is not a curse nor is sickness. These “pop” theologies work during periods of economic growth but try that with people living in the jungle or extreme poverty. The True Gospel is Universal and works in any culture and under any socio-politicaal or economic system. I have solutions that work because of Word of God.
You would think that a guy who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven for all eyes to see and performed the wealth of miracles claimed to him would of made it into the historical record It didn’t cause once the evidence is weighed there is very high odds that the figure known as Jesus did not even exist. The Christian Religion is a parody on the worship of the sun in which they put a man called Christ in the place of the sun. and pay him the adoration originally paid to the sun. (Thomas Paine 1737-1809) I don’t wanna be unkind, but I want to be factual I don’t wanna cause hurt feelings, but want to be academically correct in what I understand and know to be true. Christianity is just not based on Truth. I found that Christianity was in fact nothing more than a Roman story developed politically. The reality is Jesus was the solar deity of the Nostic Christian “SET” and like all other Pagan Gods he was a Mythical figure it was the political establishment that sought to historize the Jesus figure for Social Control. Christianity along with all the other theistic belief systems is the fraud of THE AGE it serves to detach the species from the natural world and likewise each other. It submits Blind Submission to authority it reduces human responsibility that GOD control’s everything and in turn awful crimes can be justified in the name of a divine pursuit and MOST importantly it empowers those who know the truth, but use the myth to manipulate and control societies the religious myth is the most powerful ever created and serves as a psychological soil upon which other myths can Flourish.
MONEY aint evil.
money only evil if YOU are evil
if you got a good heart you can HELP alot of people with that money!!!
if you BLESSED in a spiritual sense, you should be Blessed Emotionally, Blessed in your Health, Blessed in Happiness and Blessed in Wealth and economics.
people are broke cuz they have a poverty mentality. always thinking in terms of what they LACK and DO NOT have. the universe is infinite !!!
also…. the church is a 501-c non profit corporation that dont pay taxes….
God says you can not serve him AND money. Either you will love one and despise the other or the other way around. I agree that Jesus was broke also. I spent a whole lifetime trying to get rich and have stuff and what I have learned so far is as long as I seek God first and try to obey the commandments I basically stay in a nice environment with a/c at all times, I always eat good, and have clothes on my back. Meanwhile everybody around me is sweatin cause there aren’t any more jobs and they’re wondering how they’re gonna pay the mortgage for the house they can’t afford without a job along with the car note they can’t afford without a job, and bills, and kids, and child support etc. shall I go on? Depend on and obey God and he knows what you need, everything else shall be added.
Christians are only broke in the eyes of human beings, but never broke in the eyes of GOD.
religion or religious philosophy and finance are 2 different things. If you want to get money then you dont go to the bible or your preacher. The unfortunate thing about life is false teachings. You want money you need to learn how to actually make money. You want religion then you need to actually follow religion. Aint no tooth fairy gonna give you money. There is a reason why only a small percentage of people are rich. If you look at those who call themselves christians who are rich you need to look at how they got that way. What are their occupations, etc.
People need to stop being emotional and wake up. Then you will see the light!
JESUS WAS BROKE! SO WHAT IF CHRISTIANS ARE BROKE, I BET THEY STAY FED,STILL BREATHING,MIGHT EVEN HAVE HOUSES AND BEDS TO SLEEP IN! ALL THAT OTHER “STUFF” LIKE MONEY, COMES AND GOES! WUS WRONG WITH BEING POOR, I JUS KNOW ITS PEOPLE SUMWHERE THAT WISH THEY HAD BLESSINGS LIKE YOUR BROKE ASS HAS!